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the south of France
in the pretty little town of Les Baux, walking up to the castle An asylum, hobbits & catapults in the south of France.
Last full day on the ship, tonight we head back to Barcelona Spain. I write to you today on the 11th deck on the outside deck just as we pull out of the port of Marseille and the view is of course stunning… Rocky, arid hillside below blue hazy skies with the city sprawled over it along three sides of the ship.
This morning I went on an excursion to Les Baux which is about and hour and 15 minutes from Marseille by bus. As we are getting ready to disembark from the ship, one of the crew says it’s going to be hot, hotter than it’s been all week. The good thing is that my excursion is a lot of time in an air conditioned bus, but she was right it was hot! I’m hoping by the time I get back home summer will have finally hit there too.
Our 1st stop is in St Remy. This is where Van Gogh lived and painted before finally going nuts, cutting off his ear and offering it to a prostitute. The locals became worried for their safety and
he was institutionalized. The institution does give tours of Van Gogh’s time there and still functions, but we don’t have time to go in. It would be an interesting experience as our guide says they explain how people were treated for mental disturbances with things like cold baths… Anyway, during the year he was lived there, he painted about 150 paintings including the Irises. He was considered cured and left. But you can see in the pictures why he was so attracted to the play of light here.
Another thing we notice when we step off the bus is the sound… it’s loud. It’s like hundreds of crickets singing all around you. But it’s not crickets, it another kind of bug but I can’t remember the name of it, I will include a picture on here as they are considered good luck.
Along the way we drive along the Alpilles Mountains or “small Alps”. The fields are divided by rows of tall, slender Cypress trees.
Our stop is a town atop one of those hills, Les Baux. As we reach the top and look around I can’t help but just say wow, it is spectacular. On one side
of the town is the ancient quarry where they chiseled away stones to build their homes & streets. It reminds me of the Lord of the Rings, can’t you just picture Golem leading our hobbits through here? Maybe they can stop at the asylum nearby and cure Frodo & Golem while they’re here.
Les Baux is a beautiful town and the fortress is 7.70 Euros and worth it. It’s a self guided tour with a phone type thing that you carry around to learn about different aspects of life here. It is made up of more cobblestone streets that are steep and winding. We only spend a half day out here, but I would spend at least a full day here. The shops in this town are far better than any I’ve seen elsewhere. I actually got lost in the fortress so had no time to shop :P But I can tell you that the south of France will always smell like lavender to me, it’s everywhere.
Happy 4th of July to my American friends!
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cabochick
Andrea
nice job
spectacular, interesting pictures. Glad I came across your blog!